We are set to welcome 2020 soon with its set of
surprises and challenges. As Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had envisaged, 2020 would
be the year when India would emerge as a developed nation and one of the top
four economic powers. Well, we still have a lot of work to do to transform this
venerable personality’s dream into reality. It is said, “A journey of a
thousand miles begins with a single step.” I think in one way or the other, we
are taking steps to reach the summit of development, crossing the hurdles and
challenges coming in the way.
While we busy set
goals for the coming year, we cannot help but see what the past decade has
given us and what we have achieved. The decade began with Indian Cricket Team winning the World Cup in 2011
and then giving their best in 2015 and 2019 as well, though they could not
bring the World Cup home. 2013 saw the God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar
retiring from cricket, leaving us emotional. Indian Cricket team and its
players is one of the best in the world, but no one can be best and grounded
like Sachin. Not only restricting our achievements in cricket, this year
we saw P V Sindhu win gold medal at
the 2019 World Championships thus becoming first Indian to become the
Badminton World Champion. Miss World Crown made its entry to India again after
17 years, with Manushi Chillar making the country proud. These are some of the
few achievements where Indians have made a mark in the world.
As a 90s kid, I saw great revolution take place in
technology in the past decade, especially in mobile phones to which we are
greatly hooked to. I had my first smartphone in the year 2013 when Android had
just begun to change the face of cellphones. I held a touch screen phone for
the first time in 2013 as if it were some ethereal object. In the same year,
the word ‘selfie’ was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, thanks to the
popularity of front cameras and introduction of narcissism in the modern era.
Over the years, Android came up with delicious versions (literally!) and
newness just became a regular thing. From the time I started using a smartphone
till date, cellphones have transformed greatly. The burgeoning number of users
has boosted the telecom sector. With Jio, internet became seamless and
affordable to many. The world is literally at our finger tips today with high
speed internet. Smartphones become
smarter with every new version, making its creators, Human Beings, dependent
(read: less smart) on them. Today there are Apps for everything and anything
that you want. Thanks to these magical things, we can show a perfect life to
the world with astounding camera resolutions and filters to express our moments
of happiness.
It was predicted that the world would come to an end
in 2012 and we saw the ghastly representation of the apocalypse in the movie of
the same name. Though the world hasn’t exactly come to an end yet, we are
slowly heading towards the end. It is evident from the climate changes every
year, the natural calamities and anomalies that occur in various parts of the
world which is alarming. Several species are vanishing, and others are facing
the danger of extinction. Recently I read about the last white male rhino in
the world which is now declared extinct. #HowDareYou is creating a stir on
climate change. I imagine the Earth asking us the question, ‘How dare you?’
after taking her so much for granted. Climate change is the result of man’s
undoing. The Earth will never be the same again.
2013 was also a year where entertainment got a new
name: Netflix. I remember watching its first show ‘House of Cards’. Netflix
established itself as an online streaming service for the classes and has become
a rage in India today with its shows being hot topics of discussion. Netflix
which restricted itself only to English content initially, has gained a
worldwide popularity with introduction of content in several languages. Soon,
other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar joined the league and
a series of unapologetic, uncensored web-shows depicting reality struck a chord
with the youth. Television and daily soaps have become a passé and people have
welcomed this new form of entertainment. The fight over remote is now replaced
by fight among number of users on one Netflix account. ‘Binge watching’ is a
popular term today and viewers devour an entire season overnight. To that
extent, people nowadays look for partners who enjoy same shows as they. The
perfect idea of a romantic date is to binge watch a show together and spending
the weekend. Before Netflix established
its presence, our old HBO was ruling minds, bodies and souls of the entire
world with none other than Game of Thrones, its ace card. 2011 was the year
when Game of Thrones defined or rather redefined pop-culture. Spanning across 8
years, this show created a mark like no other. The rave discussions about this
show after every episode and with the fear of not feeling left out, people watched
the show, including me, ultimately getting hypnotized and awestruck by the
magnitude of it. This year the show took its leave, leaving the fans heavy
hearted. However, Netflix and other streaming channels soon filled that void. YouTube
and online streaming services have redefined entertainment and given it a new perspective.
This decade also was the one where Bollywood movies no
more restricted themselves only to entertainment, but also came up with several
good social messages, celebrated our past achievements, highlighted epochs of
history and won audience’s hearts in a newfound way. They became vocal about
the issues which are considered taboo in Indian society. Movies like Padman, Toilet- Ek Prem Katha,
Parched, Masaan, Newton, Vicky Donor, Hindi Medium, Bala, Gully Boy etc.
addressed issues of common people, thus proving that cinema is truly a medium
for the masses, to which they can relate to. Bollywood has proved that it is
beyond glitz, glamour, utopia and happy endings what previously it was thought
it to be. This decade gave us stars like Ayushmann Khurana, Ranveer Singh and
Vicky Kaushal, who have won laurels for their remarkable talent. Every year
Bollywood comes up with promising movies, which makes viewers believe that they
are worth spending money on. Another new trend that Bollywood has set in the
past few years is recreation of 90s songs, which makes me feel old already and
at the same time reminds me that 25 years is indeed a long time to remember and
hum their tunes again. Some groovy music makes these 90s songs fun to listen
to, while some make me say, “Original was much better!” thanks to the mindless
raps forced in with the original lyrics. This trend is so rampant in almost
every movie these days that I wonder whether the creativity to write original
and meaningful songs is already lost among the quirky raps.
Social media grew stronger in the past decade, with
people using it as a platform to express their opinions, criticize or simply vent
out anger. Words like ‘hashtag’ or ‘trending’ no more remained ordinary, but
they became a way to spark either some discussion or controversy. I remember so
many people wanting to be heard with #MeToo when sexual harassment was a thing
happening behind closed doors. That wave dug many buried skeletons and women
felt confident to speak up. I think this should be the real might of social
media where people discuss and come up with solutions for a better society and
not instigate people to take adverse measures. But social media is not only a
serious business but also a form of entertainment. With celebrities on social
media, their fans can have a sneak peek into their ‘perfect’ lives. Kiki
challenge, Bottlecap challenge, 10 Year challenge, Gonna tell my kids added to
some fun and banter with people posting all about them. Hashtags have literally become a way to
express our moods in few words! Today social media and its influence are
impossible to ignore and get away from.
On a personal front, this decade was a roller coaster
ride for me, from a teenager to an adult. It was a decade of self-discovery and
endurance where I realized my potential and capabilities. The journey from a
student who was clueless at various points to a working professional today is
like no other. Wading through cut offs,
fierce competitive exams, unnerving phase of admissions to colleges and later
of finding a job, life taught me a lot. Struggles are inevitable in life and
only hard work and strong will can help you achieve what you want. But this
decade is not only of struggles and difficult moments. There were some pleasant
discoveries too. Writing happened to me in this decade, in 2014. The ability of
expressing myself in writing is my source of solace. I discovered that I love reading and today I
have lost count of the numerous books that I have read so far. Every book
gifted me something, be it good vocabulary or stories that moved and shook me. The
next best thing that happened to me was learning German. Learning this language
changed my personality in some way. Today I am deeply fond of it and glad that
I can apply the language in my present job. Until I tried my hand at these
things, I never imagined that I could be a voracious reader, writer and passionate
about a language. I learned the myriad nature of humans in my student and
corporate life. I found some well-wishers who charged my life with positivity
as well as some grey personalities who taught me that life is not always fair
and there are ways to tackle such people and situations. I could define the
word Wanderlust anew in this decade. I got the opportunity to travel to various
beautiful places not only in India but also internationally. I discovered the
world outside India for the first time in this decade, got acquainted to the culture
and people, though this discovery has been limited to only three countries so
far. There’s still a lot to learn, see and know about the world and traveling
is a way to unravel mysteries of the world. When I look back at this decade,
feeling thankful and rich with experiences, I am reminded of one of Paulo
Coelho’s quotes from The Alchemist: “When you want something; all the universe
conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
The coming years, decades and centuries will surely
have a lot of new things in store, which will transform our lives in our own
individual ways. Years pass by, giving us moments of hope, happiness and
despair. These passing years should be a measure of our improvement- as
individuals and as a nation. These years are not mere numbers which make us
older. We should consider every passing year like steps to a mountain and us
like mountaineers, for when we reach the peak of development in every aspect,
hand in hand with the environment, we will truly cherish the view from above
and appreciate the journey from where we were to where we are then.
